25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot 1 –
a son of man, who is only a worm!”
62:9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;
human beings are unreliable. 2
When they are weighed in the scales,
all of them together are lighter than air. 3
4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 5 toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
I extolled the Most High,
and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.
For his authority is an everlasting authority,
and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.
4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. 6
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps 7 his hand
and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
1 tn The text just has “maggot” and in the second half “worm.” Something has to be added to make it a bit clearer. The terms “maggot” and “worm” describe man in his lowest and most ignominious shape.
2 tn Heb “only a breath [are] the sons of mankind, a lie [are] the sons of man.” The phrases “sons of mankind” and “sons of man” also appear together in Ps 49:2. Because of the parallel line there, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, a number of interpreters and translators treat these expressions as polar opposites, בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes. But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand the phrases as synonymous expressions.
3 tn The noun הֶבֶל (hevel), translated “a breath” earlier in the verse, appears again here.
4 tn Aram “days.”
5 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
6 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew
7 tn Aram “strikes against.”
8 tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.